Amusement at the Park
by Whackadoo
Summary: This is a short story I was inspired to write after seeing the tweeted photo I'm using as the cover photo. It takes place during season 3, when Dean is "living life" a little more due to his impending trip to Hell.


**AN: I know I'm busy writing a full length fic right now, but inspiration struck and I had to bang this one out while it was fresh! I'll get back to my other fic, now. Enjoy!**

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So, Jerry wouldn't leave me alone. I don't know how else to tell him that it's over. We are not dating. We are not besties. I don't want to follow him on Twitter. I don't want to talk to him on the phone. Yes, I blocked him on Facebook. But he still doesn't get it. He created a new Facebook account just to get at me again. As if one version of him wasn't enough! I just needed to get away and going to the local amusement park was just what I needed. Or so I thought.

I was supposed to meet Molli there. Well, I did meet her, but she got sick and went home about an hour after we got there. But...I had paid my money and I was going to have a good time and forget about Jerry, damn it! So I stayed and wandered the park solo. It's not that horrible being there by yourself, really. The people watching is out of this world. I find it a great way to meet new people too. I don't mean just guys, either. Anyone is a story waiting to be told. I love to get to know new people, find out where they came from, what they've done in their brief spin on this planet. Truly fascinating!

I find the best way to meet someone new at a park is to share a ride. And on a busy night like tonight, that isn't hard. The ride operators are always looking for ways to shorten the lines and if they can pair up some single riders, it helps. Tonight I decide to be that willing single rider. I want to meet someone rare and different, let them take my mind off Jerry, at least for tonight. I want to hear a story like I've never heard before or, at least, one that is different from mine.

I rode the Tilt-a-Whirl with Sherise from Midvale. She'll soon be a seventh grader. She's very excited about going on to the Middle School and plays volleyball and the clarinet. She hates the clarinet, though, but does it to make her Great Aunt Louise happy.

I got soaked on the Log Flume with Gary, a 40-something car salesman from Jenkins. He came to the park with his step daughter, trying to find some common ground in their new relationship. He's been her step father for all of two months and things are looking good. He's on the log flume without her because he lost a bet and she didn't want to get wet.

Then I stopped for the obligatory fried dough and that's when my night went down the crapper. I was walking away from the stand, tearing a piece off my dough, when I spotted Jerry across the concourse. Seriously?! Of all the nights for him to go to the park, it had to be the one night I go? Thinking quickly, I jumped into the line for the Sea Storm, hoping to lose him before he spotted me. I'm only just a hair over five foot and thought standing in the queue would hide me well.

I finished my fried dough while standing in line, observing my fellow 'pirates'. I loved this ride. It was one of those rides that went around in a circle, up and down, on a hilly track. It went fast and every now and then your 'boat' would whip around and face backwards. This ride often drew couples, because when the boats would turn, one rider would get thrown, by centrifugal force, into their partner. Perfect hiding place from Jerry.

As I looked at those around me, I saw few that looked to be single riders like myself. There was a young girl of maybe twelve, who waved every now and then at who was probably her mom, waiting out on a bench. There was a guy who was easily into his seventies. Rock on with your bad self, old sir! He was the one I was hoping to share with. What a story he must have! I looked around briefly before it was my turn to embark and didn't see Jerry. I may leave after this ride, though. I just don't feel like dealing with him tonight. Not in front of all these people.

As I get to the gate to enter, I can see the attendant counting riders as they pass him, asking the occasional one if they are alone or not. When it's my turn, I volunteer the info that I'm a single rider and he let's me through. I go around to the side near the exit gate and take a seat. The boat is in one of the valleys and I can't see the queue once I'm seated. I hold off buckling up, hoping to get a seat-mate. After a moment I hear them call out for any single riders. I give a shout and raise up my hand. A second attendant comes over and asks if I'd mind sharing and of course I tell her no problem. She waves over to the gate keeper and walks off to another single.

I glance out toward the concourse and come eye to eye with Jerry. He stands at the exit gate glaring at me. He makes as if he's actually going to go over the gate and enter the ride when his view of me is blocked by a body. I look up at the guy and he's beautiful in that rugged, outdoorsy, kind of way. He throws me a lopsided grin. "Looks like this is my ride. You mind?" I shake my head no and find myself speechless.

He hops down into the boat, reaches across me for the other half of the belt, and buckles us in. He lowers the bar to our laps and holds out his hand. "Dean." I shake it and smile, but the smile quickly slips when I glance past him and see Jerry again. He looks likes he's close to actually exploding. His face is red with suppressed anger and his eyes look like they are trying to drill holes through my skull. Dean, as he has named himself, follows my gaze, takes in Jerry not six feet away, and flips him the bird. I'm beginning to like this guy already. "So, you have a name?"

"Oh, uh, Claire. Nice to meet you Dean." I look closer at him. He's wearing a pair of holey jeans and a white tank top. He has some other long sleeved thing tied around his waist and a ball cap that he's wearing backwards. There is a pair of sunglasses hooked into the front of his tank.

He squints at me like he's trying to figure something out. "So who's the anger management drop out over there?"

"My ex-boyfriend who doesn't seem to get the hint. So, you from around here?" I ask to get right off the topic of Jerry and into Dean's story.

"Nope." Well, that wasn't much of an answer.

"You just passing through? Just move here? What's your story?" The ride attendants start going over the safety precautions for the ride over the loud speaker.

Dean speaks up. "Nah, just passing through. I've never been to an amusement park. Bobby almost took us once, when we were little, but Dad came home early, so, whatever." He gets a far away look in his eyes.

"Bobby a cousin or something?"

"Or something. How about you? What's your story?" He asks, glancing in Jerry's direction long enough to scowl at him.

I have never had anyone ask me what my story was before. I wasn't sure how to respond. "I, uh..hmm. I needed to get away from Mr. Hot-head over there, so I thought coming here with my friend would be a nice distraction." Dean looks around at the other riders and out to the concourse.

"Oh, you have someone else here with you?"

"No. I mean, yes...I mean." I sigh "I did, but she got ill and went home. So I'm solo now and thinking I should go after this ride."

Dean frowns at my answer. "Why go home? Because of the dumbass over there? Don't let him ruin your night." He stops talking, briefly, as the attendant comes by and gives our lap bar a tug, making sure it's locked into place.

"You don't understand how he could really ruin my night, though. I would rather avoid all of that in front of so many people."

The ride is about to start when Dean suddenly reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He holds it aloft, taking a selfie of the two of us, making a silly face. "I gotta send this to Sammy." He sets to work quickly sending the pic off as a text to this Sammy person. "He-he, I typed: Wish you were here...NOT!" He tells me chuckling. He tucks his phone away just as the ride starts to move. Jerry, having seen the selfie being taken, assumes the wrong thing, and glares at us as we pull away. Dean looks over at Jerry and wiggles his fingers at him in a goodbye. One doesn't need to be a lip reader to know what Jerry's response was.

The ride was a blast, but because of the noise, I was unable to talk any further to Dean. I was wanting so much more of his story. I had never met anyone who had never been to an amusement park at least once growing up. I suppose it was possible, just not in my experience. What must his parents have been like to never take him? Maybe they were dirt poor and just couldn't afford to.

I did my best to keep from falling into him and, for the most part, succeeded. But I misjudged the ride and the boats made a twist I wasn't ready for. I slammed into him rather hard. I turned my head to apologize and caught him laughing. It was the most infectious laugh I think I've ever heard come from a guy. His eyes crinkled at the corners and positively twinkled with delight. Like a kid at Christmas. And he didn't hold back, either, but threw himself whole-heartedly into it. Instead of apologizing, I found myself laughing along with him. He looked down at me, reached his arm around my shoulders, and held me tight to him. "Isn't this awesome?" He yelled.

The delight he took in a ride I've been on a dozen times was wondrous. I suddenly didn't want the moment to end. His joy was contagious and I felt myself smiling, both inside and out, for the first time in weeks. I wanted to ride every ride in the park with him; to live vicariously through him; to experience the joy of an amusement park like it was the first time and I was twelve or thirteen all over again. But that wasn't to be. The ride was beginning to slow and the boat turned back around to it's original position.

"Hey. Claire. That was awesome! You wanna ride some more rides with me? I'm solo, you're solo...what d'ya say?" It was like he was reading my mind.

"I'd love to!" I said with a huge grin on my face. The ride stopped over by the control booth and we waited for the attendant to release the locks on the lap bars. There was a loud thunk and people started crawling out of the cars. Dean was a gentleman and held out his hand to help me up and out. I paused before taking it. Not out of a lack of trust in a stranger, so much as I just wasn't used to such behavior. Especially not from freaking Jerry.

Oh...Jerry. As we came up and around toward the exit, he was there waiting. Dean leaned over as we walked and said "No matter what the douchebag says, just ignore him and keep walking, okay?" I nod my head. Dean didn't have to involve himself in my shit, but he chose to anyway, and I loved him for it. He switched what side he was walking on, so that he would be closer to Jerry as we exited, and then slung his arm around my shoulders. As we made our way through the swinging metal gate, Jerry started up.

"Claire! Hey, Claire!" Jerry called, but I ignored him as Dean had suggested. We walked right by him and I never looked back at him. The temptation was strong, though. I wanted to see the emotions running wild across his face.

"Wow. What a prick. What do you wanna ride next?" Dean asked, looking all around the park.

"It's your first time, you choose. And, um, thanks for that. Back there. You didn't really have to do anything." I stammer at him.

"The asshat needs to learn a lesson and I'm more than happy to be his teacher. How about that wooden roller coaster I saw coming in?" He asks, looking at me with a pleading look.

"You don't have to throw puppy dog eyes at me. I'll ride whatever you want." I smile. He's just so cute! Like an over grown child.

"Man, you should see my brother's puppy dog eyes. You would give up your first born for his look."

"Brother? Is he here?" My turn to look around.

"Sammy? Nah. He's back at the motel, head buried in research. He has no concept of a good time." He shakes his head in apparent disbelief.

"I don't have any siblings. Must be nice to have someone you can always count on to stand by your side."

"Why do you say it like that?" He asks, truly curious.

"I mean...isn't that what siblings are all about? A built in sidekick? Hero? Confidante? Co-conspirator?" Dean looks thoughtful for a moment and then grins.

"Yeah, I guess so. We sure have gotten ourselves into our fair share of shit, that's for sure!" He laughs.

"Really? Like what?" I want to know more.

"Oh, nothing you need to worry about." As we walk across to where the line is for The Predator, he continues to leave his arm draped across my shoulders. It's nice and I don't know why I seem to be okay with it. He is, after all, a total stranger.

"So. You said your brother is doing research? Is he a student? Or...?" I pick at him, trying to get more of his story.

"Was a student. He might go back to it one day. I know he wants to, deep down." He gets a bit of a sad look on his face, which is odd. "I mean he's great at what he does. I don't know why he'd want to go back to that plain vanilla life, anyway. It's not for us and he should know that by now." He sounds, at this point, to be talking more to himself than to me and I can tell there's a lot of water under the brotherly bridge.

"So what is it that he does? Or you too, for that matter?" I ask.

"Oh...um...we, ah, travel a lot. Live out of cheap motels and eat nasty diner food."

"That's not really an answer. Travel a lot doing what?" I press.

"You sure do ask a lot of questions. What is it that you do?" He returns. Okay, fine, then.

"How about an answer for an answer? I'll answer your questions if you answer mine?"

He studies my face for a moment and then grins. "Ok. Deal. So I think I'm ahead, so your turn. What is it that you do?"

"I'm working my way through community college. Working on a journalism degree."

"Your parents aren't helping you out?"

"They're dead and that's two questions. My turn." I say as we enter the line for the roller coaster. He looks a little stunned and apologetic about my parents. "Don't worry about it. They've been gone a long time and I came to terms with it a long time ago. So...what does your brother do?"

"He backs me up." He smiles. I see the game he's going to play. Give ambiguous answers and not really give me any detail.

"And what is it that you do?"

"I'm a hunter." We move forward a bit and into the part of the line where there's a railing and he leans back against it, spreading his legs out in front of him. I glance down, so as not to step on his feet, and notice he's bowlegged. My heart flutters. Why do I find that so attractive? I stand between his out stretched legs and lean against the opposite rail, facing him.

"A hunter."

"Yup. My turn. How old are you?" He asks.

"Twenty eight. A hunter of what?"

"All sorts of things."

"Come on! That's no answer!" I complain and he just smiles and shrugs his shoulders. "Fine! Give me an example of a thing you have hunted."

"That's not a question. My turn. Where did you meet the wonderful ex?" The line shifts and he just slides his butt along the rail.

I give a little growl in frustration and he chuckles. This is supposed to be my game and he's had the upper hand the whole time.

"At college. What is one thing you have hunted? There! In the form of a question."

He studies me again and then looks down at his shoes. He purses his lips together in thought and then leans forward. He places a hand on the railing on either side of me and leans in close to my ear. "Are sure you want to follow this line of questioning?"

I pull my head away and look at him. He's very serious and doesn't seem to be goofing around. I think about it. What could he possibly answer that would be so bad. I start to think outside the box for a moment. Could he hunt people? Like, for the mob or something? Maybe he's FBI. Sadly all his concern does is increase my already bursting curiosity. His is the most fascinating story I have ever come across and I must have it now. "Yes, I'm sure. I've heard a lot of crazy shit over the last few years. I love to hear people's stories...where they're from...what they've done. Yours doesn't scare me."

He sighs and looks to be weighing his answer over in his head. Finally, having come to some sort of decision, he leans in close again and I can feel his lips brush my ear. "I've hunted a wendigo."

He leans back and waits for my reaction. I just stare at him, lost. "What the hell is a wendigo?"

"Ah, ah, ah... my turn. What did you see in Jerry that made you want to date him?" He asked.

"Why do you care so much about Jerry?" I came here to forget about him and Dean keeps asking about him!

"It's your turn. You answer first."

"Fine. He was funny, smart, interested in me...I don't know." Throughout our back and forth, the line continued to move and we suddenly found ourselves getting on the ride. He moved aside and let me go ahead of him. I climbed into one of the cars and he followed behind. This ride had two small lap bars, one for each rider. We pulled them down and waited as the cars filled and the operators went over the safety spiel.

The Predator was a wooden roller coaster and it really could jerk you around, but it was so much fun. As the train pulled out and started creeping up the hill, Dean tapped out some sort of rhythm on his lap bar. "What kind of music do you like to listen to?" I asked trying to figure out what tune was playing through his head.

He turned and smiled at me. "Well, this happens to be the guitar rif to AC/DC's Thunderstruck. I like the classics, man. Led Zepplin, Metallica, Styx."

"Cool. Me too. But I'll listen to just about anything, except opera and country. Oh and rap pretty much sucks too." At this point we reach the top of the hill and go roaring down the other side. He throws his arms up in the air and whoops and hollers throughout the ride. He has a smile a mile wide on his face that doesn't look like it'll fade anytime soon.

After the time honored tradition of giving the riders whiplash when the train comes to a screeching halt at the end, he pats the lap bar and says, "Awesome." I can't help but smile in return.

"Okay. So, what's a wendibo?"

"Wendigo."

"What?"

"It's a wendiGO, not a wendiBO."

"Oh! Sorry. So what is it?"

"It's not your turn."

We climb out of the car and start down the twisting ramp that leads to the exit. "Yes it is! You asked what I saw in Jerry."

"And you asked what kind of music I listened to."

"What? Come on! That didn't count!" I smack him on the arm, not failing to notice how muscular they were.

"Did to. My turn. Why did you break up with the funny, smart, interested Jerry?"

I sigh. "Seriously? Because he's an abusive, control freak that had to control what I did and how I did it every minute of the day. He had to control who I talked to; what I did on the computer; even what time I went to sleep at night! And I came here to forget about him! Thank you very much!" My voice had steadily gotten louder and I was practically shouting when I finished. He stopped me near the bottom of the ramp, grabbing my shoulders and turning me towards him.

"Hey. Cool down. I didn't mean to get you upset. Just trying to figure out what Jerry's problem was. He looked like he was ready to commit murder back at that ride." He bent his head down so that he was looking me in the eye. I turned away and looked at my feet.

"No. I'm sorry. He's just been, I don't know, just...all over me ever since I broke it off. He won't leave me alone. Enough about him. It's my turn. What's a wendigo?"

Dean let the last few riders from the coaster walk past us and when we were alone he answered. "They were once human, but when they turned to cannibalism, they turned into evil creatures. They are, for the most part, immortal and continue to hunt and feed on human flesh. They can only be destroyed by fire."

"Um." I had nothing else to say. My gut instinct was to claim lies, but he rattled it all off as if he were reciting it from a textbook. We reached the exit gate and standing there waiting for us was Jerry. He was effectively blocking our exit.

"Jerry. Please, just leave me alone." I plead. "It's over. Okay?" I can see the tendons twitching in his arm as he makes a fist. He takes a step toward us and I instinctively flinch backward. The move doesn't get past Dean. He turns and looks at me and then back to Jerry.

"Claire." Jerry says.

"Hey. Buddy. You heard her. It's over. Let it go, you're beginning to make the rest of the male species look bad." Dean said stepping slightly between Jerry and I, even though there was a gate between us.

"And who the fuck are you?" Jerry spits at Dean.

Dean steps closer to Jerry. He's about two inches or so taller than him and he looms over him. Jerry takes a step back. "I'm someone you don't want to mess with. Trust me." There's almost a growl to Dean's words and I don't know what Jerry saw in Dean's eyes, but he took another step back. It looked like he was going to say something more, but thought better of it, turned and stalked off. Dean turned back to me. "You okay?" He put a finger under my chin, raising my eyes to his. I nod my head.

"So." I say. I just need to drop it and forget it. "Where to next?" He takes my hand and pulls me through the gate and out onto the concourse. He turns in a full circle, taking in the park. Since he doesn't let go of my hand, I turn with him. He must have spotted something, because he starts walking, pulling me along.

We come up to a cotton candy stand and he buys a bag. He grabs my hand again and starts off in a different direction. We end up in the line for the Giant Wheel. It's a ferris wheel of colossal proportions. The sun has set during our altercation with Jerry and subsequent cotton candy purchase. I unconsciously wrap my arms around myself and shiver a bit. Dean unties the shirt around his waist and hands it to me. "It ain't much, but it'll help" He says with a smile.

I take it and put it on. It's a gray henley with a Cowboys logo on the left chest. It's warm from his body and smells of the woods and...engine oil? "I hate the Cowboys, you know." Dean looks at me as if I just insulted his mother.

"I suppose I can let this one thing slide, but anything else and I may have to leave." He says with fake threat in his voice. "So. My turn again." He taps his finger against his lips in thought.

"Wait. Your turn again?" How does he keep doing this?

"Yeah. You asked 'where to next'. So...Why did you react like you did back there with Jerry? Why did you back away from him? There was something there." He eyes me closely. I'm beginning to learn that Dean is very observant.

"I..I can't." I turn away from him. I have never told anyone what Jerry was actually like. How he told me when I could watch tv, when I could go out. What I was allowed to do while I was out. He was crazy.

I feel Dean take my hand and pull me forward. It's our turn to get on the ferris wheel. It's one of the biggest I've ever seen and on a clear day you can see for a couple miles from the top. We get in the car and I sit opposite him. He gives me a goofy look and then gets up and sits next to me. He reaches an arm around me and squeezes me close. "You're still cold." He says, rubbing my arm. His hand is rough and calloused and strangely comforting.

"So?" He asks, waiting. "Claire, please tell me." I look up at him and fall into his hazel-green eyes.

"Fine, but you don't tell anyone."

"Who would I tell? I'm just passing through, remember?" He just had to remind me. I could've stayed in his arms forever.

"He.." I bite my lip. I can't say it out loud. I try but to do so, to put it into words, gives him power.

"He hit you, didn't he?" Dean guesses. I just look down at my hands and nod. "Son of a bitch. I'm going to kill him."

"Dean, you don't even know him. You don't really even know me. Why do you even care, anyway?" I'm not angry or upset. I truly want to know why he cares so much.

"I guess I've just gotten into the habit of helping people."

"How did you guess, anyway?"

"I have a knack for sniffing out evil, I guess. The guy's an ass."

"Dean. Tell me the truth. What is it you and your brother really do?" He looks down at me and sighs.

"Claire, I've been nothing but honest with you." He reaches into his bag and offers me a small ball of cotton candy. I take it and he then grabs a handful for himself. His eyes light up as he eats it. I wait. I can tell he's mulling over what to say to me. He eats a bit more cotton candy and then answers. "My brother and I hunt evil. There are things out there that you really don't want to know about. The things that go bump in the night. We find them and we kill them."

"How did you ever get into that kind of...job?" I realize, as I ask it, that I believe every word he's saying. I'm not sure why, I just do.

"I've been doing it since I was a kid. Grew up in the life, I guess you could say. Sammy...he tried to get out of the life, but it wouldn't let him go. I wouldn't let him go." He sounds so sad that I find I have a tear rolling down my face.

"Is that why you've never been to an amusement park before?"

He gives a sarcastic chuckle. "You could say that. That and many more 'normal' things most people do. But, we help people. A lot of people and it feels good."

We grow quiet and snuggle in together, eating our cotton candy and enjoying the ride. "It's so quiet. I don't like it." Dean finally speaks up after a bit. I look up at him and he's looking out over the countryside beyond the park.

"The quiet is nice. It allows you to think." I respond.

"That's the problem. Listen, I can't guarantee I'll be on my best behavior if we see Jerry again. I've killed so many monsters, it would really be no problem to make him disappear for you." I pull away from him and look at him in shock.

"What? Dean, you .. you can't say you're willing to..." I can't say it.

"No, I'm not stupid. I won't kill him, as much as I may want to, but I will make him re-think ever laying a hand on you again."

"Why DO you care so much about this? About me?"

"Maybe I'm just bored." That's all he offers and I don't press for more.

The ride is coming to an end and our car ends up at the bottom, so there won't be a wait to get off. We stop with the deep talk and just go around the park and ride rides. In no time we are laughing and having a good time, our individual demons forgotten. We ate food that was bad for us and stopped at one of those crazy photo booths and took a strip of silly pictures. He ripped it in half so we could each keep a couple.

At the end of the night he offered to walk me to my car. On the way he held out a book of matches. "What's this?" I ask as I take them.

"I wrote my cell number inside. Claire, I had a great time tonight. I know I'll be leaving town in the morning, but I can't tell you how much fun I've had. Honestly. I don't have fun. There's no time for fun in my business. I was really hoping to see Jerry one more time, but you call me if you ever need me to deal with him."

"If you don't have time for fun, how are you here tonight?" I ask, curious.

"Let's just say I'm running out of time." The way he said it let me know he wasn't going to say any more about it, so I let it drop.

We got to my car and I pocketed the matchbook. "Thanks, Dean. I've enjoyed myself too. I've never opened up to anyone about Jerry before and it was...cathartic. And watching you enjoy the rides is something I'll cherish for a long time." I smile up at him. His eyes twinkle again and they crinkle at the corners as he smiles. He leans down and gives me a kiss.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Some punk ass fucker is taking advantage of my girl." We turn and coming around from the other side of the car is Jerry and two of his friends. Jerry is coming around the rear of the car, closest to me and his friends are going around the other end towards Dean. The friends came prepared. One has a baseball bat and the other is carrying a length of chain.

"Jerry. Stop this." I plead.

"No, Jerry. Please don't stop." Dean says. I turn to look at him in disbelief. There is a glint in his eye that scares even me. Dean turns to the two guys coming up behind him and holds an arm back toward me. I get in behind it and squeeze in close to his back.

Not wanting to get penned in, he suddenly charges the two guys in front of him. The one with the bat swings at Dean as he comes in, but Dean ducks below it. The bat smashes through the window of the car parked next to mine. As Dean is coming back up, the other swings his chain out toward him. Dean grabs it and wraps it around his wrist and gives it a good yank. Not wanting to lose his weapon, the guy doesn't let go and so is pulled in toward Dean. Just when it seems they'll collide, Dean punches him square in the face and he goes down hard.

The first one is circling around smacking the end of the bat into his hand, looking for an opportunity to strike. When he sees it, he swings just as Dean is turning away from the chain guy and back toward him. Dean just has time to raise an arm and block his head from the blow. I can hear a crack and since the bat seems fine, I can only assume it was Dean's arm, but it doesn't slow him down at all. He blocks the blow away and to the left all the while bringing his right arm in for a punch to the guy's gut.

I can hear his breath wheeze out of him and before he can even respond to the blow, Dean has him by his jacket and is shoving him back into the car behind him. He slams the guy hard up against the car and slams his fist into his face again and again. When he lets go of the guy's jacket, he just drops like a sack of potatoes to the ground. Dean turns and does a quick visual check for me and then zeroes in on Jerry.

Jerry looks from Dean to me and back again. He looks like he's trying to decide between fighting and fleeing. Dean doesn't give him the opportunity to choose. He grabs Jerry's arm before Jerry even knows what's happening. He twists it, causing Jerry to turn and brings it up tight to Jerry's back. Dean shoves him into my car and, using his other hand, slams Jerry's head down on the roof. "You like to hit women, I hear."

"None of your fucking business, asshole!" Jerry rages.

"Maybe, you wanna hit something, you should try something a little more your size, huh?" Dean emphasizes his words by repeatedly bopping Jerry's head against the roof of my car. He suddenly spins Jerry back around so that he's facing us. "Go ahead then." Dean backs a step back and holds his arms out, waiting. "Take your best shot, fucker."

Jerry looks at him and then to me, weighing his chances. He suddenly takes a swing at Dean. Dean ducks it like it was nothing and punches Jerry in the stomach. "That the best you got, pansy?" Jerry growls in frustration and swings again. Dean blocks it with his injured left arm and I hear him grunt. Jerry follows it quickly with a swing from his other hand. Dean blocks it with his right arm and then grabs Jerry by the shoulders and yanks him down, where his face meets Dean's knee. There is a sickening crunch. Dean shoves him to his ass in the gravel. Jerry is holding his nose and blood is pouring out around his hands.

"If I ever hear about you hitting women again, you cowardly douchewad, I will personally end you. Understood?" Dean makes his threats quietly, crouched down in front of Jerry. The quiet makes it more menacing in some way. Jerry doesn't answer. Maybe he's in shock. "Understood?" Dean repeats, grabbing Jerry's coat collar.

Jerry starts crying. "Yes...YES! God, please, don't hit me again! I swear I'll never touch her again! I swear!"

"Not just her, dumbass. You never touch another woman in anger, ever." Dean says.

"Yeah, yeah, no one...ever...I swear!"

Dean turned to me and I just looked at him, stunned. "Claire? Are you okay?" Dean put his hands on my face and turned my face away from Jerry to him. "Claire?"

I looked up into his eyes and started crying. Dean just hugged me to him. He was a great hugger. I cried away the stress of the fight. I cried away the last few weeks of Jerry hounding me. I cried away the months of abuse from the time I lived with Jerry. It was over and I was finally just letting it all out. When it seemed I was finally winding down, Dean kissed the top of my head and pulled away to look at me. I looked up at him and he raised his eyebrows.

I looked around. Jerry and his buddies were no where to be seen. "I'm good. Really good. Dean, I don't know how I can ever thank you. You didn't know me and yet you helped me out and I'll be forever grateful."

"Dude. Stop. Just kiss me." He said with a lopsided grin. 


End file.
